Today, we're going to talk about the 70-20-10 rule and why this will unlock your innovation.
Because this framework really gives you permission to fail, to learn, and to succeed.
You know, when we do this as a team, when we take on this framework as a team, it really
gives us permission together to experiment, to fail, to iterate.
It's the kind of framework that will unlock your creativity and the breakthroughs by accepting
one simple idea, and that's this.
Not every effort, not everything you do will be perfect.
And that's the point.
You know, it reminds me of a story of a professor of photography.
And this professor from the University of Florida, Professor Jerry Ilseman, divided
his class into two groups.
You know, everybody on the left side, he explained to them that during this semester of photography,
he was going to make them the quantity group.
And the quantity group, he explained, he said, I am going to look at the number of photographs
you submit.
If you give me over 100, you'll get an A. 90 will be a B, and so on.
And he told them that he's only going to measure the quantity of photographs submitted.
To the other side of the room, to the right side, he said, you're going to be my quality
group.
Now, you're only allowed to submit one photograph, and that photograph is going to be your whole
grade for the whole semester.
You've got the whole semester to produce one photograph, but to get an A, it's going to
have to be nearly perfect image.
At the end of the term, he was totally surprised, because all the best photographs were produced
by the quantity group.
Why?
Why did that happen?
Because during the semester, those students were really busy taking a lot of photographs.
They were experimenting.
They were trying different types of composition, and lighting, and testing out different methods
in the darkroom, and learning from their mistakes.
They were rapidly iterating.
Now, in the process of creating hundreds of photographs, they really honed their skill.
Meanwhile, the quality group sat around having meetings and speculating about perfection.
In the end, they had very little to show for their efforts, because the one photograph
they did produce really was just the result of unverified theories and really a mediocre
photo.
Why does this work?
Why is this the case?
The 70-20-10 rule explains this perfectly.
Here's why.
70% of all your work will be average.
Don't be discouraged by that.
This is your solid, dependable work you do that keeps things moving forward.
But 20% will be poor.
If you give yourself permission, instead of trying to make everything average, what if
we left 20% and allowed 20% of what we do to be failures, experiments, disasters, if
you like, because built into those is where the critical lesson.
The real growth is not coming from the 70%.
There'll be small growth.
The real learning is happening in the 20% poor work you do.
And if you'll keep and push through that, you get to the 10%, which is amazing.
These are the innovations, the breakthroughs, the game-changers, the ideas that literally
shift and transform the business.
So if you embrace this ratio as a team, you create a culture where there's rapid innovation,
a lot of iteration, a lot of learning from mistakes.
And to make this happen means we need to have one thing called intellectual humility.
Because intellectual humility will give you permission to fail fast, learn faster, keep
trying, fail forward.
You know, it's a lot of iterations that produce a quality product.
So you know, it's interesting that when Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon, stopped by
the Basecamp offices a few years back, somebody asked him a question that's the sort of question
every entrepreneur wants to know the answer to.
And that is, Jeff, what's the most important quality you look for when you're trying to
hire superstars?
Now you might think that Bezos would talk about amazing accomplishments, stellar credentials,
fantastic education.
or maybe some sort of undeniable leadership ability but you'd be wrong. What one of the
world's richest people actually said and stressed was that he likes to hire people who are wrong
a lot. So that is a different thought and here's why the 70-20-10 rule explains this because
quantity breeds quality. Quality doesn't stand by itself. It is a result of quantity. So you know
when we're trying to get past that paralyzing effect of trying to go straight after quality
first, that pursuit of perfection turns out to be the very thing that creates more 70%
mediocre work for the most part. So when you focus on just producing perfect work
you literally risk stalling progress, stifling your own creativity, missing all the opportunities
you could have to learn and rapidly innovate and try again and iterate. So instead of prioritizing
quality, what if you prioritize quantity instead? Try making lots of thin slice, lots of quick-moving
ideas to help drive that learning and those breakthroughs because iteration sharpens your
skills. Every attempt, every time you fail, every time you learn something new.
Failures really reveal insights. Oh I see why that failed. I see why that wouldn't work. But the
basic idea was there. So why don't we try the next variant of that idea? Now to make this all work
comes down to one key thing for yourself. I mentioned it earlier. Intellectual humility.
Because intellectual humility strangely enough doesn't just drive growth. It also drives
creativity. You know this idea of giving yourself and your team permission to fail and fail a lot
you know as Jeff Bezos said that he values hiring people who are wrong a lot because they're open to
revising their thinking. They're learning from their mistakes. Then they're not afraid of how
it reflects on them and that's why we call it intellectual humility. It takes a certain humility
to say I was wrong. Man did I ever mess that up. I really screwed that up. That was terrible.
But I'm gonna try again. There's a humility to that and for some people they just you know they
don't give themselves that permission and therefore never step into the 70-20-10 rule.
So let me tell you two quick other stories to illustrate this. You know 3M's post-it notes. We
all use those. We have them. I have them on my desk right here and we've you know many of us have
used them for years. Now it actually turns out that it was a failure that changed that industry.
You know in 1970 a 3M scientist called Spencer Silva was working on developing a super strong
adhesive but instead he ended up creating a really weak reusable adhesive that seemed useless at the
time. The classic 20% poor category. For years the idea just languished but one of 3M's other
employees, a person by the name of Art Fry, realized that this adhesive could solve a very
personal problem. You know keeping bookmarks in his hymnal without damaging the pages. This sparked
the whole idea of post-it notes and after multiple iterations, testing sizes, colors, adhesive
strengths and so on, post-it notes became one of 3M's most iconic products, generating billions
in revenue. So here's a lesson for a small business. You may not be 3M but it's the same
principle. A failed experiment today could be the seed of tomorrow's big breakthrough idea.
So as a team we need to encourage ourselves and each other to explore these little side
projects, to revise old ideas with fresh perspectives, to look at what we were doing and
you know challenge our own assumptions. Another quick idea is Pixar's iterative storytelling
process from rough drafts to these blockbuster movies. So Pixar Animation Studios are known for
you know movies like Toy Story or Finding Nemo and you know it's what's really interesting is
they've embraced this 70-20-10 rule. You know their films start with you know rough storyboards
that are often the 20% poor stuff. Clunky, incomplete, almost embarrassing, sometimes
actually embarrassing but Pixar leaders have learned that embracing this
messiness is part of the brain trust process so for example when they were
making the movie up you know early versions of the story were literally
disjointed lacked emotional depth were not intriguing even a bit embarrassing
and but the team iterated relentlessly producing hundreds listen to that
hundreds of storyboards in other words lots of 70% average stuff and a whole
bunch of 20% poor stuff they were not afraid to hit that whole 90% you know
and they were they didn't hold back candid feedback and this is the point if
we're we can't give candid feedback then we slow down the growth we try to be too
kind too nice too gentle about everything we never get to the heart of
what really makes this grow so through this process they you know they crafted
the film's iconic opening sequence that tear-jerking masterpiece that's probably
made us all cry because that 10% was amazing that was solidly in that amazing
Canada and by the way up one to Academy Awards and grossed over seven hundred
and thirty five million worldwide okay so what's the lesson for a small
business out of that create a safe place for rough drafts and honest
feedback you know your best ideas will emerge just give it time keep iterating
and move from the average and the poor to the brilliant all right we said this
is one big thing that makes this all work intellectual honesty so as I land
the plane here here's the personal challenge to you if intellectual
humility is the secret sauce behind the 70 2010 rule then that means the
willingness to be wrong to learn from mistakes and embrace new ideas you know
Elon Musk tells his team at SpaceX and Tesla assume you're wrong and aim to be
less wrong now that is intellectual humility and research backs this up that
faster learning you know a humble person learns more quickly we know that
humble people make better decisions they weigh contradictory views they
don't just get strong-headed about one particular view and you know they're not
they will also change their views change their perspectives and stronger teams
when we can be humble with each other means we can receive and give very
candid and honest feedback in a nice way so as we said earlier these are three
really reinforces this you know the smartest people are those who constantly
revise their understanding they stay open and they're very willing to be
proven wrong in fact they kind of welcome it because that means growth is
right there they see being proven wrong as a way of you know jumping to the next
level so here's a question to you how intellectually humble are you you know
three questions number one can you give yourself permission to assume that you
are wrong and try to be less wrong does that upset you think about that for a
minute because if you can go there and give yourself permission to assume that
you're very likely wrong but try to be less wrong number two are you willing to
become comfortable with your own intellectual errors and number three do
you feel that you have no need to protect your turf your little area your
space well this is my space this is my product this is my baby if you can get
past those three things you can consider yourself to be intellectually humble
which is the secret sauce behind the 70 20 10 rule enjoy being an innovator
thanks for listening